Masih and Masih

The proceedings involved a de facto wife seeking property settlement orders against the de facto husband. The dispute also involved the de facto husband's son and a company owned by them, which intervened in the proceedings. The court was required to determine the property of the parties to the de facto relationship, which necessitated the exercise of the court's accrued jurisdiction.

The primary legal issues before the court were whether an alteration of the parties' interests in property would be just and equitable, and how to address claims by the son that the de facto husband held his legal interests in a partnership and a company on trust for the son. The son also argued for proprietary estoppel, asserting he had been encouraged to believe the farming properties would one day be his and had relied on this promise to his detriment.

Coleman J concluded that an alteration of property interests was just and equitable, finding that the de facto wife's contributions warranted an adjustment of approximately 15 per cent in her favour due to the disparity in financial resources. The court determined that this adjustment could be satisfied without encroaching on property impressed with a trust in favour of the son. Regarding the son's claims, the court was satisfied that the de facto husband had made representations to the son, creating an expectation upon which the son relied, and that it would be unconscionable for the de facto husband to depart from this assumption. Consequently, the court declared that the de facto husband's legal interests in the farming properties, held by the partnership and the company, were held on trust for the son in remainder, with the de facto husband as life tenant, excluding property held as trustee for a superannuation fund.

The court made orders for a superannuation split in favour of the de facto wife, interim spousal maintenance of $800 per week, and that the de facto wife relinquish any entitlement to the property of the de facto husband, the son, the partnership, and the company, with the latter jointly and severally indemnifying the de facto wife against any liabilities. All other applications were dismissed, and costs were reserved.